U.S. construction outlays up 0.7%

January increase outpaces economists' expectations

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Outlays for U.S. construction projects increased by 0.7 percent in January to $1.05 trillion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The growth rate exceeded the 0.5 percent average that economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected.

Spending on private construction climbed 0.6 percent above the revised December estimate of $800.6 billion, while spending on public projects rose 0.8 percent above the revised December estimate of $239.7 billion.

"Overall this is a much stronger report than expected," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.

This January's total construction number is 10.6 percent above year-earlier levels of $946.5 billion.

The Commerce Department said residential construction grew by 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $574.5 billion, while nonresidential construction grew by 1.2 percent to $231.3 billion.

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